Disgruntled Sarasota office employee kills co-worker, self

SARASOTA -- A doctor's office employee who thought she was going to be fired fatally shot the office manager Friday morning, then went home and killed herself, authorities said.

The shooter, Jacquelyn Ann Ferguson, 51, of Sarasota, fled the building after the shooting at about 8:45 a.m. and was found dead at her home in nearby Bradenton about three hours later, said Sarasota County sheriff's spokesman Lt. Chuck Lesaltato.

The slain woman was identified as Denise Keyworth, 45, of Sarasota.

"The suspect believed she was going to be terminated today and showed up with a gun and shot the victim," Lesaltato said.

After killing Keyworth, Ferguson fled to her home in Bradenton. Deputies were already watching the house when a Sarasota Herald-Tribune reporter walked up to the front door, Lesaltato said.

Deputies confronted the reporter, who told them he had looked in a window and saw Ferguson dead from a gunshot wound on the back patio, Lesaltato said.

Twelve other employees were in the offices of cardiologist Dr. Jeffrey Sack at the time of the shooting, and they walked out of the building with their hands in the air, Lesaltato said.